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Run For Your Sanity, The Circus Is In Town!

By Vaughn Ververs

August 18, 2006 / 11:55 AM EDT / CBS News

(AP)

For residents of Boulder, Colorado, the circus is back in town. Unfortunately for them, this one isn't confined to three rings underneath the Big Top. Last winter, we brought you a first-hand glimpse of what it was like for one man to be in the center of a media feeding frenzy. Today, the Boulder Daily Camera reminds us that when the press hordes invade a community, they aren't always pleasant to deal with and not always welcomed with open arms:

Patty Limerick, who has lived across the street from the former Ramsey house since 1991, looked out her window to see 24 news vehicles, an ice-cream truck looking for business, a missing newspaper — taken by a reporter — and another journalist sitting on her doorstep at 5 p.m. Thursday.
"I'm thinking about turning the sprinklers on them — they have lots of expensive equipment that could be ruined," the University of Colorado professor said, laughing. "I walk outside, and it's like attracting flies."

At about 2 p.m., a Japanese film crew was shooting footage of the former Ramsey house, "Entertainment Tonight" was broadcasting on-the-scene teases and a stream of cars slowly drove by with cameras sticking out their windows. Meanwhile, the Klinger and Gibbons family, who live next door, tried to have a quiet lunch with friends, ignoring the continuous ring of their doorbell.

Yes, there is international interest in this bizarre story. But taking someone's newspaper? Is it any wonder the press isn't held in higher regard?